Written by

SEAN H. LYNESS
Guest Essayist

We all waited with bated breath for the National Rifle Association to release a statement after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. When the NRA finally did speak, it made the front page on The Huffington Post, CNN and even my local paper. Not just headlines - the front page's lead story. Then, pundits spent the rest of the day arguing over the remarks, reporters spent the rest of the day getting reactions from the general public, and I spent the rest of the day asking myself: why is the NRA such a big deal?

True, the NRA has a lot of members. They claim their membership hits somewhere over 4 ...